The government and Bank of England’s public consultation on a digital pound ends today John. [1]

Over 1,000 of us have already emailed the Bank’s team but we need thousands more to drown out the big banks and lobbyists from private companies. 

Because, at its heart, this consultation is asking a simple question…Do you think money should stay in public hands - what’s your answer, John?

A digital pound would be like cash issued by the central bank - but online. The exciting thing is that this could make our economy fairer. But the scary thing is that big banks and private companies are looking to get their hands on it. Together we need to get our voices heard to make sure any new digital pound is run by the public and for the public. 

We dived into all the details in a webinar with US digital money expert Professor Saule Omarova and our Head of Policy and Advocacy Simon Youel on Wednesday evening, which you can now catch up with on our YouTube channel here.

Now all you have to do John, is hit send on a ready-made template email - or edit it as much as you like - to make the case for a public digital pound that’s truly inclusive, accessible and privacy-enhancing for everyone.

Right now, we're forced to rely on private banks and card companies to make our online payments. And when the big banks get into trouble - like Silicon Valley Bank, Credit Suisse and First Republic did earlier this year - governments jump in to bail them out because we need them to run our digital payments system. [2]

We shouldn’t leave a vital public service like money in the hands of greedy bankers - it’s too risky and gives them too much power to line their own pockets at our expense. Alongside protecting cash, we believe a digital pound is our chance to break free from the big banks and democratise money to keep it in public hands. 

For the last consultation in 2021, Positive Money helped thousands of supporters to contact the Bank of England and they publicly welcomed “the strength of engagement on this topic”. [3] Together, let’s make our voices even louder this time. 

We’ve got less than 24 hours to prove to the government and the Bank of England, just how many of us want a safe, public money system. Please John, will join us and email them in two clicks now?

Thanks for all your support, 

Hannah, Rachel and the rest of the Positive Money team

Notes:

[1] The digital pound: A new form of money for households and businesses?

[2] An opportunity to stop the privatisation of money with a digital pound

[3] Responses to the Bank of England’s Discussion Paper on new forms of digital money, March 2022

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